Sunday, January 11, 2009

(the two loves are centered and on the right; the little sister was to be a witness)

It's a short but undeniably sweet story so I'll just yoink a lot of it (from The Daily Mail)

Police in Hanover, northern Germany, identified the pair only as Mika and Anna-Lena, who have different parents but now share a home in the city's suburbs after his father and her mother moved in together.

The story began on New Year's Eve when the family were watching a documentary about Africa and its wildlife.

'From this, the children began to make plans for the future,' said police spokesman Holger Jureczko.

The two youngsters were 'very much in love and decided to get married in Africa where it is warm, taking with them as a witness Anna-Lena's little sister Anna-Bell'.

As the first dawn of 2009 broke, the trio packed three suitcases with all the essentials for the journey, including sunglasses, swimming trunks, a lilo [air mattress], summer clothes and sandwiches made from chicken paste and processed cheese.

While their parents slept, they crept out of the house wrapped up against the freezing weather and walked two-thirds of a mile up the road to a tram stop from where they caught the service to the central station.

Waiting for a train to the airport 30 miles away, they attracted the attention of the guard, who contacted police.

Two officers managed to convince the young lovers that they would struggle to get to Africa without money or a plane ticket. 'They were very put out that they couldn't carry on their journey,' added Mr Jureczko.

'But they calmed down when they were promised a hot drink and some breakfast.'

As a further consolation, the children were given a tour of police headquarters where they were 'especially taken with the detention cells'.

Their relieved parents picked them up from the station, said Mr Jureczko, adding: 'They can still put their plan into action at a later date.'